Out-Of-State Trucks Pay Hefty Share

Kathleen Hartman's letter "Put in Tolls to Pay For Highway Maintenance" [May 20] inaccurately implies that "cross-country freight trucks" do not contribute funds to maintain Connecticut's highways. The fact is that every large truck pays Connecticut the fuel tax on every gallon of fuel it consumes in the state, even if they don't buy fuel here. Through a congressionally mandated program called the International Fuel Tax Agreement, all large trucks pay state fuel taxes where they consume fuel.

Connecticut's diesel fuel tax is 54.5 cents per gallon. Massachusetts is 24 cents. New York is 24 cents. Rhode Island is 33 cents. New Hampshire is 24 cents. Vermont is 32 cents. And New Jersey is 17.5 cents. So, even though Connecticut doesn't have tolls, it gets a lot more fuel tax revenue from trucks than all of the surrounding states.

Connecticut's Special Transportation Fund subsidizes Shoreline East at the rate of $84 per round trip, per day. Maybe we should look at how much we spend before we start looking for more money.

Michael J. Riley, Thomaston

The writer is president of the Motor Transport Association of Connecticut, which represents the trucking industry.